Life just seems to roll along. The country has received a bit of a bailout from the IMF, so the rupee has buoyed somewhat. Bad news for me as my income has been cut by about LKR.20,000/month. However, it seems to fluctuate quite a bit, so I just have to time when I exchange money.
Mahjong continues. I was bored one day, so I invented a bunch of new games. For those who are interested:
All are limit hands CELT.
 |
| Happy Birthday: Player's birth year; chows of 4 tiles in each suite and a pair of honours. |
 |
| Year of the Dragon: Pick any year of the dragon, chows of 4 tiles in each suite and a pair of dragons |
 |
| JFK: chows of 4 tiles in each suite of 1963 and a pair of winds. |
 |
| O Canada: chows of 4 tiles in each suite of 1867 and a pair of honours. |
 |
| Times 2 Chows: 2-4-6 in each suite, a mixed chow of 2-4-6 and a pair of 8s. |
 |
| Times 3 Chows: 3-6-9 in each suite, a mixed chow of 3-6-9 and a pair of 9s. |
 |
| Times 3 Pungs: a pung in each suite of 3-6-9, a mixed chow of 3-6-9 and a pair of dragons. |
 |
Times 2 Pungs: a pung in each suite of 2-4-6, a mixed chow of 2-4-6 and a pair of winds.
|
Met some new people through my friend Sylvia. Her aunt is here helping out an orphanage. She has hired my friend Devika to teach the kids English. She (Helena) invited Devika and I over for lunch. A lovely lunch was had with Sylvia, her husband and daughter, Helena, Devika and another woman whose name I can't remember. Something strange that she had adopted when she was a Buddhist nun. Now back to being a lay person from London and teaching English at Colombo International School where Sylvia has become head of the Modern Languages Department.
Film Club carries on. I have been trying to extricate myself as I am bored with the whole thing, but Judith continues pulling me back in by paying for my lunch. April will be my last one for the balance of the year as I now have the legitimate excuse of having to save every penny to have a load of dental work done. I need at least one bridge, and possibly 1 if not 2 implants. One of the implants will involve a sinus lift to build up the jaw bone. Not a happy prospect and will cost about LKR.500,000. That's about C$2,000. Cheap when you consider the amount of work he has to do.
Breakfasts at the Grand Kandyan also continue, although less frequently as Devika and I are not as available and we don't want to go with Ava alone.
I finally got railings installed at the front gate and along the side garden steps. Places where I have taken a fall. I also pressure washed the lower side garden yesterday so now between that and the railing, it is much safer.
I got my tennis racket and tennis togs. Douglas and I have played twice. Both times, it was very hot. We have decided that we will try weekly at sunrise when there are no mosquitoes and it is a bit cooler. He has been in Singapore, but when he gets back, we will resume. When it is raining, we will go to his school and play badminton there.
There was a 5 day period of teaching English to my neighbour across the street. She and her family have emigrated to the UK (everyone who can, is leaving the country). She wanted to have conversations with someone in English, so we happily chatted away for 5 hours just before she left.
We stepped out of our normal pattern and went to the Grand Kandyan for lunch so that I could meet Devika's friend Janie from England. An interesting woman, married to a Sri Lankan, they have a house cum guest house in Gampola. They both worked for El Al and have now retired. She is a bit eccentric and loads of fun.
Simon and Pauline have discovered a new hotel/restaurant called the Lake Avenue just down the street from the Kandy Club. We went for dinner. Fabulous! Great decor, nice menu, good service. What more could you ask for. They have a good looking breakfast menu that I am dying to try.
It was Lesley's 77th birthday. A nice party was held at the Royal Ball with all the usual suspects; Thirsty Club and the ex-pat crowd.
 |
Lesley and Abi, the steward at the Royal Bar. He has been there for ages and is a wonderful server.
|
Lesley almost killed herself retrieving some water plants from a drainage ditch. They have now been installed in both the front and back ponds. They are Genjer (Limnocharis flava), also known as yellow velvetleaf, sawah flower rush or sawah lettuce. Turns out they are edible tasting like a combination of green beans and spinach. I want to try it in lieu of spinach or mustard greens in palak or saag paneer. It has taken in both ponds, but not enough yet to harvest.
 |
| The leaves, stems and flower buds can be eaten. When the flowers open, they are a lovely yellow. |
 |
The leaves look a bit like a hosta.
|
Tula got some maniok (cassava) stems that we planted a while ago. They have taken off so soon, we will be harvesting cassava.
 |
The umbrella looking plants in the front are the cassava.
|
On the cat front, I am now feeding either 8 or 10 cats. My 4 and an assortment of visitors.
 |
| My baby Chewy who turned 1 on March 1. |
 |
| Chewy is a very small cat, but feisty, intelligent and fearless. |
 |
| This is Pinky, one of the visitors. Very rare to have a female ginger. She is heavily pregnant. I was hoping she would litter in my house, but I have not seen her for 4 or 5 days now. I suspect she has delivered. I just hope she is in a safe place where she and the kittens are being looked after. |
 |
| Also a small cat like Chewy, she is very pretty, friendly and young. |
 |
| A new combination; Putha and Buddy have taken to sleeping together. |
 |
| It's too bright for daytime sleeping. |
